Mariama Keita

Mariama Keita, a freelance journalist, is an intern in CPJ's Africa program.

When it comes to press freedom offenders, the Czech Republic
is not among the countries that come to mind. So what happened to the main
national television channel on March 11 left many flabbergasted. I arrived in
Prague that day with a group of New York University graduate students to participate
in a weeklong series of seminars with local journalists and media organizations.
While we were discussing work conditions for Czech media, military police in ski
masks were storming Czech Television offices.

Veteran journalist Stanton
B. Peabody, a pioneer of press freedom in Liberia,
turned 80 last month. Peabody, known to family and friends as "Bob Stan," is a
captivating figure full of wisdom and humor. We talked recently about his
journalism career, one that has tracked the blossoming of the press in Liberia.

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As Ugandan journalists prepare to cover presidential elections
on February 18 amid political tensions and security concerns,
uncertainty and fear are on the minds of reporters. That's particularly so after
a year in which 52 press freedom abuses--ranging from physical and verbal
intimidation to state censorship and murder--were recorded, according reports by Ugandan press freedom group Human
Rights Network of Journalists (HRNJ-Uganda). Journalists Arafat
Nzito and Eddie Frank are suffering lasting effects of 2010 harassment.

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While South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC)
discusses the party's proposal for a media appeals tribunal, delegates should
take note of a landmark ruling in Nigeria this year in which a High Court judge
declared a government-dominated
press council unconstitutional.

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On Tuesday, several journalists were wounded when missiles were fired on a press conference in the battlefield of Somalia's capital, Mogadishu. When the National Union of Somali Journalists broke news of the attack, I immediately checked in with local reporters. I obtained the phone number of photojournalist Ilyas Ahmed Abukar, expecting to speak to a frantic or traumatized man, but to my surprise, Abukar was alert, calm, and willing to share his personal account of what transpired. After a short conversation, he pledged to continue answering my questions via e-mail. Here is some of what he told me.